(The online newspaper🙂 The Christmas season is approaching and mulled wine is a self-described companion both during Advent and during Christmas. But now several grocery chains are experiencing sellout situations for different mulled wine products.
This is happening after a strong price war between low priced chains where a liter of Tomteggløg costs only NOK 9.6.
Oda: – The customers have hoarded mulled wine
A quick check on oda.com, the low-priced online chain, shows that 1 liter of Stabburet’s original, spiced Tomtegløgg is out of stock. They state that the product is out of stock from the supplier.
– Oda has more than enough of the sugar-free version of Tomtegløgg in stock, but like most other shops we are now empty of the original and spicy version, says Tor Erik Aag, commercial director of Oda in Nettavisen.
The reason they sold more than expected is that the price war on Christmas products has reduced the price below NOK 10 per litre. Aag says the customers have piled up cash.
– Even the restrictions we placed on the number of bottles customers could buy in the same transaction didn’t stop us from running out. We’re not sure if we’ll get any more before Christmas Eve, he says.
It is not possible to order
Coop’s communications manager Harald Kristiansen says it varies from shop to shop if you’ve run out of Christmas mulled wine. Coop is, among other things, behind the discount chain Extra and the Coop Mega supermarket.
– This is a product that stores order long before Christmas and cannot be reordered. When Christmas is over, this is a product that isn’t easy to sell, and so we try to fulfill orders as best we can to avoid waste, she says.
On Meny’s website, 1 liter of Tomtegløgg is also out of stock. But Meny’s communications manager Nina Horn Hynne says they have many varieties of mulled wine in their stores and there is leftover mulled wine.
– We were not informed by the supplier that we are out of Tomtegløgg from Orkla Foods. Overall, there is a good stock of Tomtegløgg in all of our shops and many still have plenty left. How much is left varies from shop to shop, he says.
Rema 1000 communications manager Hege Rognlien said on Tuesday morning that 13 out of 73 products in the Oslo area are currently out of stock.
– We have Tomtegløgg in stock, so there’s little indication that we’re sold out, or that we’ll run out of this product before Christmas, says Rognlien, but points out:
– In some of our shops you may experience a sell out situation, but this is now, and this situation can change quickly as our cars are continuously delivering goods to the shops.
He says Tomtegløgg is a popular Christmas product for which there is stiff competition.
– It’s common to run out
Norway’s largest trading house Norgesgruppen, which is behind Meny supermarket and discount chain Kiwi, says it may be out of the popular Christmas tipple in some of its stores.
– There will likely be large local variations in who has and who is empty, says Norgesgruppen communications manager Kine Søyland and explains:
– This is a product that has pre-orders in progress and should last until Christmas. It’s not unusual for it to be empty as we approach Christmas. If you can’t find Tomtegløgg in one of the shops, check another. He also says that Norgesgruppen shops sell mulled wine from other brands such as Eldorado and Lerum.
Søyland says there’s not in itself a goal to be left with lots of mulled wine after Christmas.
– The fact that some places are sold out is nothing special this year, Søyland points out.
Anne Gjemdal is responsible for communication at Orkla, which, among other things, produces Tomtegløgg.
– We are not aware of any of our Tomtegløgg varieties being sold out in stores. We also see that there are still stocks at some wholesalers, plus Orkla Foods also has remaining stocks of several varieties, he says, and says that Tomtegløgg will no longer be produced this year.
– We believe that mulled wine sales are quite stable year-on-year, and we are not aware of any major store sell-out situations in some of the last few years, but we do not rule out that it may occur in individual stores , she says.
